Olympic photo gallery: All the sights from the opening ceremony in Sochi

It was a spectacle of Russian history and Olympic-sized grandeur, and Associated Press photographers captured all the memorable photographs from the opening ceremony on Friday. The Sochi Olympics opened with a celebration of Russia's past greatness and hopes for future glory, especially for a group of athletes who marched into a rollicking seaside stadium with no shortage of pride. Hockey goalie Vladislav Tretiak and three-time figure skating gold medalist Irina Rodnina ran out of the stadium and joined hands to light the towering Olympic cauldron.

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Coming on Saturday, the first gold medals will be awarded in Sochi: the men's 5,000-meter speedskating, where Sven Kramer of the Netherlands opens defense of his lone Olympic title; the men's 10-kilometer sprint in biathlon; the women's moguls, the men's slopestyle final; and the women's 15-kilometer skiathlon, where Marit Bjorgen of Norway, the most successful athlete of the Vancouver Games with three golds, a silver and a bronze, leads a strong Norwegian team.